Interview with Herself.com’s Raechl

Raechl is a 23-year-old who was recently featured in a photoset on

SOURCE: Raechl

Herself.com. She found a love for film and theatre at a young age, truly in the steps of her parents, who met on set. Writing is her biggest passion, though she admits it can be hard to make a living off of.

OntarioKink.com had a chance to interview her about her involvement in Australian actor Caitlin Stasey’s herself.com, a website dedicated to celebrating the lives of women, alongside nude photosets.

In the interview she gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot/interview process, shares her thoughts on growing up with religious zealots condemning her mother for being lesbian, and the women’s rights movement!

OK: How did you become involved in the herself.com project? What was the draw for you?

RAECHL: Caitlin had a draw about her that’s nearly impossible to describe. She has the willpower of a thousand people (so imagine my surprise when she came wrapped up in such a small [but absolutely gorgeous!] package!) – and her passion for the way women needed to take hold of our own “re-imagining” within society really drew me to the project on a whole. Then I met Jennifer, and honestly I was hooked. These women are astounding, and I am so happy to be able to consider them friends.

OK: What did Caitlin tell you about the vision of the website?

RAECHL: That we have to build our own world – the one we most want to live in and push forward for. We’re at a point in time where we can either succumb to further degradation by society or push back and own ourselves instead of letting anyone else (gender-specification completely excluded) do it for us. On television, in the street, in magazines – we need to take back who and what we are, and begin to discuss why we’ve come to be where we are as a culture.

OK: Can you tell us a bit about the entire process?

RAECHL: My story might be a little different! I actually was (if memory serves) the first to be interviewed and the second to be shot on film. Although I think of all the girls on the site so far, I may have been the first. My interview was one of the only ones I believe that had been taped – Caitlin and I sat down and ran through an interview like a typical conversation, because once we started talking it quickly moved into serious discussion and honestly was quite enlightening. We have so much to learn from each other, and to bond with someone when there’s so much of myself going into a project like this, it was something I’m happy to have received. Support, and the utmost care.

I had the same experience with Jennifer (the photographer). We met on the day of the shoot – rose gardens of Toronto at 5am. It was frigid, and I hadn’t brought a bathrobe to cover up with, so we often laughed and hid from the sole gardener mowing around every 15-20 mins. After a while, the shoot progressed into the daylight and we finished around 8am (just in time for breakfast!) but by that point plenty of joggers had seen me stark naked on the beach. I’d become so utterly comfortable, I’d even begun to wave and smile at those who would glance and gawk. I felt like I finally owned myself, and all the parts that made me up.

It was euphoric.

A picture from Raechl’s shoot in Toronto – SOURCE: herself.com

OK: Was this your first time doing a nude photoshoot? If so, how do you feel now that the interview/pictures have been posted?

RAECHL: It was my first, yes! And I couldn’t have hoped for a better photographer. My favorite memory was Jennifer saying, “You’re a goddess!” whenever I’d get uncertain, and once I saw the pictures, I honestly couldn’t believe I’d ever doubted it. Any of the girls on the site. We are all so perfect as we are, and Jennifer has such a beautiful eye for communicating that in print.

I’m absolutely proud to be a part of the foundation. I am so anxious to see it grow and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.

OK: Which question in the interview caused the most controversy in your own mind as you tried to answer it?

RAECHL: Controversy? Not many. I’m a very open-book sort of person. Perhaps it comes with being a writer. I did remember texting Caitlin during the process of writing it up however a tad frantic, saying, “I keep answering questions that you ask later on, is that okay?” Because a lot of my interview had these lengthy anecdotes that all sort of unwittingly connected the main themes. In the end,  I happen to think that spoke pretty clearly into how meant to be a part of Herself I was.

OK: What was the most empowering part of the herself.com experience?

RAECHL: Attending the launch party and seeing myself naked and six foot tall in print! That was quite an experience – seeing as I was hanging, naked, taller than I stand on my own.

OK: What type of feedback have you received so far? Have any ‘haters’ popped up?

RAECHL: Only positive. Friends have found me on the website and expressed their happiness and well-wishes without me even having pointed them to it. My mother is even considering participating, which I am so entirely happy to hear. She’s an amazing woman, as I was sure came across in my interview, haha. No haters yet, happy to say! Although anyone who might take issue with my involvement has no real say in my head, considering it is my consent, and my body to do with as I wish.

OK: In your interview you spoke about how when you were seven you were told by other children in your hometown of Holland, Michigan that your mother was going to go to hell for being lesbian. What would you say to them today given the chance?

RAECHL: Honestly? I would thank them for helping to shape my life and my view of my mother to be so entirely unconditional in my acceptance of her and her sexuality – everything that she was and is. That conversation bound us in a way that went beyond simply being a single mom and a daughter was likely to do. We have open communication about everything – have since I was a teenager – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

OK: Who has been your biggest inspiration in life, and why?

RAECHL: I’m a big believer in the universe, and I got that from my mother. So I would love to say if it was a person, it would be her. If it expanded beyond a “someone”, the gifts we give and get by putting out what we want to get back is my biggest inspiration in life. To never regret, and let go of that which I cannot change.

OK: What advice would you give to young women who are just beginning to discover their sexuality?

RAECHL: Explore in each and every way you are comfortable. Trust your gut more than your peers, and never stop reaching for what it is you feel you truly want. At the same time, respect the boundaries of others, and seek out rejection – the best way to understand yourself is to be able to take rejection in stride. In love and sexuality it is the most difficult, but will make you the strongest.

OK: What is one thing that men can do to help the women’s rights movement?

RAECHL: #HeForShe is a wonderful start. But more importantly, men need to learn to trust women when we weigh in on topics that concern US. Most recently and notably – catcalling. If women say it makes them comfortable in a mass forum, men should be able to step aside and say, “You’re right, this happens to you and you would know better than I on the detrimental nature it circulates.” Don’t defend something we’re expressly telling the world is a majority feeling.

OK: Raechl, thanks so much for sharing your experience!

Raechl is currently involved in two other projects. The first is a fun little graphic novel named ‘White Foxes’ (Facebook link, website link) and the other is called ‘Project:Charis’, which she is still developing but is intended to use ‘celebrity culture’ to stimulate the progression of our world, and the health of our community by taking up the idea that wealth of information, time, and funding are all the basis for the benefits of charities and our culture all around the world.

You can also follow her on Twitter as @raechla.